Put Your Church on the Web


Introduction

It is the goal of Shenandoah Presbytery for all churches within the Presbytery to have Internet web sites in the near future. View a church list of all churches presently with web sites, and take a look at their content and design.

Technical assistance is available within the Presbytery to those churches having a computer literate person willing to handle the technical aspects of maintaining their church web site. Current support is limited to the programs for which we have web "coaches."

At this time, these programs include:

  • Homesite v1.2 and WS_FTP. Both of these programs are free. While Homesite requires learning some HTML language basics, it is a relatively simple program.

  • FrontPage. This web publishing software, by Microsoft, provides a "what you see is what you get" or WYSIWYG, format. It is easily learned and does not require HTML interaction or knowledge. Pictures, text, graphs, titles, fonts, colors, tables are all used much as they are in modern word processing programs, such as Microsoft Word. FrontPage 2000 currently (8/2000) retails for approximately $129.00.

    Other programs, such as Microsoft Word, Netscape Composer, or Microsoft Publisher, can also be used to facilitate web page creation. Check the list of Web Coaches for people near you that may be able to help you get started. Web Coaches are individuals who have created web sites and have expressed a desire to help others to begin church web sites.

    Where to Begin

    As mentioned above, you need a computer literate person to do the technical work. (You will want church staff and members to contribute to the content of the site. More information on this topic is provided below.) The first step is to decide where to publish your web site. Possible options include:

    1. Open an account with an Internet Service Provider for as little as $11.95 per month (find this information on the Internet or in your local yellow pages).
    2. Ask members of your congregation if anyone will volunteer their web space to the church. Many providers offer up to 5 megs at no cost to you.
    3. Check out free listing hosts, such as Forministry.com View an example of this type of site at Bethel Presbyterian Church.

    The Presbyterian Church (USA) web site provides helpful information at http://www.pcusa.org/pcnet/chweb.htm

    Designing Your Web Site

    Generally, the church staff and/or members will provide information on floppy disks for the technical person to organize and publish to the web. Here are some basic principles to consider when designing your site:

  • You may want to begin with all of the information on one page, and later expand to more pages. Examples can be found on your own, or we can help you.
  • You can look at other church web sites and incorporate the features you like best.
  • Good web sites are easy to navigate and contain pages that load fast, and contain clear, concise information that is easily readable.
  • Attractiveness is important, but should not get in the way of good design.
  • Use graphics, but limit size and number.

    Programs Available for Web Authoring and Publishing

    Keeping things simple and enjoyable is important when choosing web software programs, and learning some basic HTML code is one way of keeping things simple in your web designing experiences. HTML code allows you to manipulate images, colors, text and more with ease and precision, regardless of the software program you may be using. Homesite v1.2 for web authoring and WS_FTP LE for publishing are HTML programs that provide helpful features to assist you with code. A helpful resource for HTML code is the Bare Bones Guide to HTML. See links below for additional tips and resources with HTML links.

    You may want to explore preparing some pages with WYSIWYG programs. There are free programs, such as Netscape Composer and Microsoft Front Page Express. Some commercial programs such as Microsoft Word and Publisher also have html capabilities. Several of our Web Coaches enjoy using Microsoft Front Page and find them easy and enjoyable to use, without needing to learn HTML code. (As noted above, this program costs approximately $129.00 at local stores.)

    The above information is based on our experiences. To get more extensive information visit the Presbyterian Church (USA) and the United Methodist Church. They each have excellent web assistance pages.
     

     OTHER PAGES
    HTML LINKS
    PEOPLE AVAILABLE TO HELP YOU
    CHURCH WEB SITES WITHIN SHENANDOAH PRESBYTERY
    FORUM FOR WEB AUTHORS
    TUTORIAL FOR NETSCAPE COMPOSER
    INSTRUCTIONS FOR WS_FTP LE